South Carolina softball drops fourth straight, falls 6-2 to Duke

South Carolina softball dropped its fourth consecutive game on Tuesday night to the Duke Blue Devils in a 6-2 final. The Gamecocks left 10 on base and committed four errors. 

“Unexcusable to show up and play like that, especially her in front of our fans,” head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard said. “We’re way too good and we’ve worked way too hard for a performance like that.” 

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Nealy Lamb got the start, and didn’t make it very long. Lamb faced nine batters in 1.1 innings of work, allowing two runs on five hits. Jori Heard entered the circle in relief in the second, quickly walking her first batter and loading the bases. A sacrifice fly by second baseman Aminah Vega got a third run home, but Heard limited the damage. 

“We went to Jori a lot earlier than I had wanted to,” Chastain Woodard said. “I just felt like she gave us the best chance to stay in the game, extended through the game, which she did a good job.”

The Gamecocks had a big opportunity to make it back in the bottom of the second. After a walk, an error, and a Shae Anderson single, the bases were loaded with one out. Kai Byars struck out swinging, then Quincee Lilio flew out to deep right field. The shot was inches away from a lead-taking grand slam, but was prevented by a great catch by Duke’s Layla Lamar. 

Tori Ensley single-handedly got a run back in the bottom of the third when she drove a two-out double off the center field wall. In the next at bat, Ensley took third with a passed ball, and eventually scored on a wild pitch. 

Despite allowing another sacrifice fly in the fifth, Heard did her best to keep the game within arms length. In 4.2 innings, Heard allowed two hits, one earned run, and two strikeouts. Her season ERA sits at 1.26. 

The bottom of the fifth looked to have another opportunity for South Carolina to score. With two runners on and two outs, Alyssa Hovermale hit a ball off her foot that was not called dead. The Gamecocks called for review, but the call stood. 

“Watching the review live on the video board, I thought it hit off her foot,” Chastain Woodard said. “I thought it hit off her foot live, and then (Hovermale’s) toe would also say that it hit off of her, so I’m not sure what happened there.” 

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Emma Friedel entered for the seventh, looking to keep the game in striking distance. After two batters, Duke already had two more runs of insurance. 

Outfielder D’Auna Jennings hit a sharp, full-count single over the head of Anderson, and Vega drove home Jennings with a stand-up triple into center field. Ensley misplayed the ball off the wall, and an errant throw by Lilio to third allowed Vega to come all the way around. 

Ensley drove a solo homer in the bottom half to make it a 6-2 final. She finished the day 2-4 with a double and a home run. Her six total bases were more than the rest of the team combined. 

“Credit to Duke,” Chastain Woodard said. “Thought they played really well, and I thought that they started the game with an intensity to get after us that we did not match.” 

Next up

South Carolina travels east to Conway to take on Coastal Carolina on Wednesday night. First pitch is at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

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